Watkins and the Irish Sun

The Press Ombudsman has decided that there was insufficient evidence for him to make a decision that a statement in an article published in the Irish Sun on 22 August 2011 breached Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines. He decided that an offer made by the newspaper represented an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve another part of the complaint under the same Principle. A further complaint under Principle 4 (Respect for Rights) was not upheld.

Mr Michael Watkins complained through his solicitors that the headline to an article that read ‘Whitey Gun Pal to be Deported to U.S.’ was untrue as he (Mr Watkins) had no links to Mr James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, whom the newspaper referred to as an ‘Irish-American mob boss’.

The newspaper said that it stood over its statement that Mr Watkins was linked to Mr Bulger, on the basis that its source for the information was confidential but reliable. However, in the absence of any persuasive corroborative evidence supporting either the statement or the complainant’s assertion that it was untrue, it was impossible for the Press Ombudsman to make a decision on this part of the complaint.

Mr Watkins also complained about a statement in the article that said that he was convicted of a vicious assault. As the newspaper accepted that the conviction was not for assault but for armed robbery, and offered to publish a correction of same, the Press Ombudsman decided that this represented an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve this part of the complaint.

There was no evidence that the newspaper knowingly published matter based on malicious misrepresentation or unfounded accusations, or that it did not take reasonable care in checking facts before publication, as would be required for a breach of Principle 4 of the Code, and the complaint under Principle 4 is therefore not upheld.

5 December 2011